Abstract
Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs)—Part III
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) aims to enhance Europe's ability to innovate. The main instruments used by EIT to support innovation in Europe are the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). A KIC is a highly integrated, creative, and excellence-driven partnership that brings together the fields of education, technology, research, business, and entrepreneurship, in order to produce innovations and innovation models that inspire others to emulate it.
In this and in the forthcoming issues, we will explore KICs' characteristics and their role in the innovation strategy of Europe.
The existing KICs
The Governing Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) met on December 16, 2009, in Budapest to designate the first three Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs):
• Climate KIC (climate change: Responding to the climate change challenge will require radical transformation in how we produce, distribute, and consume; in where and how we choose to live and travel; and in how we meet our requirements for energy, food, and water in the context of the environmental values we hold. The aim of the Climate Knowledge and Innovation Community (Climate-KIC) is to be at the forefront of this “green revolution,” providing the innovations, entrepreneurship, education, and expert guidance needed to shape Europe's climate change agenda. • EIT ICT Labs (information and communication technologies: EIT ICT Labs is the EIT's Knowledge and Innovation Community with a focus on future Information and Communication Society. It breeds entrepreneurial ICT top talent by transforming higher education toward promoting innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. EIT ICT Labs speeds up ICT innovation by bringing people together from different countries, disciplines, and organizations via mobility programs and co-location centers. By developing and applying innovation catalysts, EIT ICT Labs leverage on existing regional, national, and EU-level funding instruments to speed up innovation in Europe. Its catalysts focus on integrating the three elements of the knowledge triangle—education, research, and business. Moreover, it equips students, researchers, academics, and business people with skills for applying creativity, risk-taking spirit, and entrepreneurial capacity. It aims to empower top talents to lead Europe into a new ICT age. • KIC InnoEnergy (sustainable energy: KIC InnoEnergy‘s challenge is to create a sustainable, safe, and low carbon energy supply for Europe. KIC InnoEnergy is about securing Europe's global competitiveness in the field of energy technologies. Close networking of all partners will speed up commercialization and generate new energy products. To drive climate innovation, KIC InnoEnergy creates successful partnerships between business, public bodies, and the academic world. In building these relationships, its focus is on identifying, developing, and linking market potential with business ideas and initiatives.
The future KICs
In the EIT's Strategic Innovation Agenda (SIA), the European Commission has presented a proposal that defines the framework for the EIT's operations for the period from 2014 to 2020. In the SIA, EIT planned the creation of six new KICs to be launched in two waves.
The first wave, to be set up in 2014, will have the following themes: innovation for healthy living and active ageing (improving the quality of life and well-being of citizens of all ages); food4future (sustainable food supply chain, from farm to fork); and raw materials (sustainable exploration, extraction, processing, recycling, and substitution of raw materials).
The next wave of KICs, to be established in 2018, will focus on: added value manufacturing (developing more competitive, sustainable, and environmentally friendly manufacturing processes); smart secure societies (addressing Europe's security gaps through the development and deployment of innovative ICT solutions); and urban mobility (delivering a greener, more inclusive, safer, and smarter urban mobility system).